Tuesday Treasure
Hwei - the lightless moon on the last day of the month
Ming - becoming luminous
Hwei Ming is blind. Her father the emperor offers a reward to anyone who can help her to see. Visitors come from all over the kingdom with prayers, potions, pins, incantations and spells. Nothing works. One day an old man hears about the blind princess. He sets off on a long journey carrying a walking stick made from "a single piece of golden wood."
On arrival at the city gates the guards refuse him entry. He looks so ragged and poor. The old man reaches out to touch the faces of guards and then he sits down with his stick and his whittling knife. He shows the guards his carving of the journey he has made to Peking from his home to these city gates. The guards are entranced. His storytelling and carving are wonderful. They take the old man inside the city to show the guards at the gates to the inner city and from there he is taken to the door of the Imperial Palace.
The guards tell the emperor about the wonderful pictures carved onto the golden stick. Hwei Ming is sitting beside her father and she hears the story. She asks to see the stick.
"The old man leaned forward and petted Hwei Ming's head and caressed her cheek. For though she was a princess, she was still a child." Placing his fingers on hers he helps her trace the stick and "see" the story. "And the princess' slim fingers felt the carved stick. Then he put her fingers onto his face and traced the same lines there. It was the first time the princess had touched another person's face since she was a very small girl."
This is a pivotal moment. Hwei Ming asks to feel the faces of those around her - the guards who are waiting close by and then her father, the emperor.
"She reached out and her fingers ran eagerly through his hair and down his nose and cheek, and rested curiously on a tear they found there. And that was strange, indeed, for had not the emperor given up crying over such things when he ascended the throne?"
You have probably guessed the rest of the story. The emperor gives the reward to the old man, the old man can now live in the Innermost City but he gives away the fortune in jewels. Have you guessed the most important thing about the old man himself?
Jane Yolen is the author of over 300 books. On her web page she talks about writing or retelling this Chinese fairy tale.
The illustrations in this book by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini are exquisite. They begin in black, white and grey but move to full colour as the old man shares his stories. Some of the richest pages are laminated giving them a beautiful texture reminiscent of cloisonne.
Image Source Books4yourkids
I would pair The Seeing Stick with these:
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